Outshine
by Spottedeyes
Summary: Zaria was taken from her family and raised by Giovanni for experimental purposes (and other reasons). This makes her a rather unstable person when she is sent into ranger school to complete a mission that she's been preparing for her whole life.
1. Chapter 1

Outshine

**Alrighty, there will be both the prologue (I highly suggest you read it so the story makes sense to you) and chapter one in this one. Feedback is always appreciated. ^_^**

**Prologue~**

"You got her?" A deep voiced man asked, his face cloaked in the darkness that the room casted. Only the glint of his teeth as he spoke was visible on his face. His shoes, a brown leather, protruded from the shadows of the room.

The grunt gulped, praying to Arceus that he'd done the job correctly. "I got her, just like you asked." He stuttered, nervousness shaking his voice.

"Did you use the radar to make sure you nabbed the right one?" He asked, his voice almost sounding like a growl.

"Sion?" A cream colored cat Pokémon growled, as if repeating its master's question.

He nodded hastily, his boss' sidekick making this conversation twice as difficult. "Of course, sir! I-I picked the only child with the highest purity." He said, lowering his voice to a mere whisper before continuing. "Whatever that means."

The Pokémon growled in disapproval, easily overhearing his comment.

The man in the shadows however, seemed satisfied with his underling's report. "Is it male or female?" He asked.

"F-female. The purest child was female, so I took her. Was… was that wrong?" His voice quavered, ready to run for his life.

Surprisingly, the man in the shadows nodded. "Her name shall be Zaria. For her 'pure heart'" He laughed, as if the child was a joke.

His Pokémon purred in agreement, hopping onto his lap.

"How old is Zaria?" He asked, stroking his companion. "She's one and a half. I took her from a day care centre." He mumbled.

"Excellent. Get her a room, make it nearly as large as mine with the proper… e_quipment _needed for her success." The man hissed, cracking his knuckles with pleasure.

The grunt nodded, leaving without another sound, the next member in line taking his place. "And did you capture the Pokémon I wanted?" He asked, his voice accusing and hard, yet cool and refreshing at the same time.

The young red head nodded. "But of course. It took me quite a while to find the golden one… but I caught her."

"Excellent. Bring her to the laboratory." He demanded.

The girl responded with a nod, exiting the door way.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The sleeping one year old was placed on the operating table, currently being prepped for brain surgery. If this works, the child would have an artificial, but outstanding ability. An advanced, microscopic scientific chip that only the very best, high powered microscopes could see would be placed in the center of the girl's brain. The technology is designed to develop and improve as the child grew, otherwise it would be guaranteed that she would die after or during surgery.

In the opposite side of the room, a very rare, special Pokémon was receiving the same surgery.

Their hope is that the girl once of age, could track this Pokémon with only her mind, as could the Pokémon track the girl. Finding both of these specimens had taken over three generations of the organization's leaders to find.

There for, both of these beings were to be treated with excellent care. The golden, birdlike dragon was already undergoing surgery, the chip being placed into the brain as the child was sedated.

Much like the young girl, the Pokémon was only a year old as well, not at all fully grown. The day that this organization had been preparing for nearly their entire existence was upon them.

The surgeon created an incision in the young girl's head.

XXXXXXX

The red headed admiral nearly did a spit take. "What? Let it go?!" She spat, her eyes wide with fury and disbelief.

The man nodded, an evil twinkle in his eyes. "Yes. The experiment is to see if the girl can mentally track this beast, so the Pokémon must be free to wander the world- for now." He said sternly.

"B-but all that time that was put into capturing it! All the money-"

"What? Like this money?" He interrupted the red-head, holding a fairly thick wad of cash in between his fingers.

His personal Pokémon growling in agreement with its master, his tail flicking in aggression.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with-"

"Either the Pokémon goes, or your paycheck goes." He snapped, even his own Pokémon flinching at his hostility.

The red-head bit her bottom lip, slowly nodding. "O-of course. The Pokémon shall be released right away-"

"Wait." The girl stopped in her tracks, barely holding back an angry retort. "What is it?" She asked, irritated.

"Restore it to its full strength before releasing it. We can't chance it dying before she is ready to be hunted." The man explained.

The girl gave a curt nod. "Of course."

**Chapter 1~ The plan begins**

_Fourteen years later…_

"Forty nine… fifty!" I shouted, pleasure tinting my yell. I dropped from the pull up bar that hung near my closet door.

I flexed my arm and looked at it, a smirk forming on my face. "Oh yeah, now that's muscle." I grinned, my silver eyes drifting from my arms to my bare stomach, (I'm only wearing a sports bra and work out shorts) admiring my solid six pack.

My whole body was practically one big solid muscle, as I worked out as much as I could. There's not much to do when you're not allowed out of your room without an escort.

My father, Giovanni, told me that I can't just go waltzing out of my room like I own the HQ, I get to leave probably once a day, twice if I'm needed for a beneficial experiment.

I typically choose to go to the battle arena so I can train the Pokémon that I've been given: Shinx, well Luxray now with all the training I've been doing.

To make up for not spending much time with me, I was given a whole bunch of exercise equipment and a Shinx for my fifth birthday. I didn't really start doing much with the exercise equipment until I was around seven or eight, as everything was too difficult.

I spent most of my time training the Shinx that I had acquired.

Well now I'm fifteen, and Shinx evolved into Luxio, then Luxray. Luxray and I aren't friends, (my father says that only the weak befriend their Pokémon.) we're not even partners.

I OWN Luxray. He's mine. He doesn't have a nickname or anything like that. I've asked for more Pokémon for me to train, but Giovanni says that for my mission I can only have one Pokémon.

I'm not allowed to watch TV either. Well, on my birthday I'm allowed to watch the battling channel, but only certain ones. He doesn't want me to be influenced by the weak.

My gaze drifted to Luxray's poke ball which sat on my dresser. He was finally skilled enough for me to begin riding him places. It was Giovanni's idea, he said that for my upcoming mission a Pokémon that could be ridden in otherwise unroutable terrain such as rocky outcrops and such.

I'm dying to know what this mission that I'd been preparing for my entire life was. I want to know why the scientists and doctors in the laboratory made my body fire resistant, or why they made me a living lightning rod, why did they upgrade my lungs so I can stay underwater longer? Why are they going to make me bullet-proof? I want, no. I NEED to know.

I also know that they gave Luxray a power boost, making his electrical and physical attacks twice as strong as they would naturally be. They also planned on making him bullet-proof too. They're working on another project too… I just don't know what yet… I nearly flinched when my bedroom door swung open.

It was a scientist. "Zaria, Giovanni has requested that you and Luxray receive another upgrade." He said, his voice dry and emotionless. I nodded, plucking the red and white ball off my dresser and following the man out of my room and to the lab.

XXXX

My eyes narrowed. "Surgery?" I asked skeptically, recalling the time when a Pokémon they had experimented on surgically dying while the surgery took place.

The men and women nodded. "Yes, and why would you be nervous? We upgraded your lungs through surgery." They reminded me.

I gritted my teeth. "What are you going to do this time?"

"That's classified." They responded, seating me on a metal table as I was prepped for surgery. One doctor injected my arm with anesthetics, while another took Luxray into another room.

Artificial sleep began to take over my mind, my world steadily growing darker until I was completely put under.

XXX

My brain felt stuffy and clouded when I awoke, a typical feeling after becoming upgraded so many times.

My head was shaved, indicating that my head was operated on, but I don't really care about my hair. The almost white hair was typically long and often got in the way of my workouts or training of Luxray. Besides, I can just get a wig or have them force my hair to grow back in a forty-eight hour period.

I coughed a little as I awaited doctors to explain what had been done. Soon enough, two doctors entered my recovery room. They didn't ask how I was feeling, which was normal.

"Have you had any… visions lately?" One asked.

I shook my head slowly. "No… Why?"

The doctors whispered to each other, occasionally looking back at me. "It may just be taking time… perhaps the technology just isn't advanced enough… or the chips were placed in the wrong section…" One suggested.

The word 'chip' alarmed me. "What did you do?" I demanded, fear rushing through me.

"We've installed an additional chip so you can stay in constant contact with Luxray." One murmured.

My eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"Our hope is that it'll give you strange visions of what Luxray is doing, you know, seeing what Luxray's seeing. Luxray should be able to see where you are too with this new instillation."

"Yes, but what about the first chip? What the hell is that? I didn't know I had another implant." I growled, my eyes glaring daggers.

The doctors didn't respond at first. "You received your first one when you were one year old. Giovanni has had great plans for you since the very beginning. You will find out who has the other chip in time, most likely when Giovanni sends you out on your mission." The doctors explained, scribbling something on a clipboard before I could ask more questions and left.

XXXX

About a month has passed and Luxray and I are fully recovered from the surgery. Giovanni has requested me to come to his office today so I can receive my mission.

But my meeting with my father isn't scheduled until four 'O clock tonight, so I'm training Luxray at the moment.

Arianna, (my least favorite commander) called both me and my Pokémon weak, so I challenged the arrogant bitch to a Pokémon battle.

It was Luxray versus Ariana's Arbok.

"Thunder fang!" I cried, watching as electricity foamed at the large Pokémon's fangs, his hackles rising as testosterone flooded his system when the battle began.

Luxray lunged at the purple cobra, claws outstretched and pure red hot fury boiling in his gaze.

"Dodge and counter with rock slide." She said lamely, over exaggerating a yawn.

"Bok!" Arbok hissed, darting abruptly to the right before summoning a rock fall.

I thought fast, not wanting the red head that had tormented me since day one to have the pleasure of winning. "Use iron tail to smash the rocks!" I commanded, gritting my teeth as Luxray struggled to keep up with the falling, jagged rocks.

"Alright, now sludge bomb." Ariana said dryly, only aggravating my further.

"Charge beam!" I yelled, watching as Luxray, still panting from shattering the falling boulders, shot a powerful electrical beam at Arbok, both Pokémon getting struck with their opponents' attacks.

Luxray's fur was soaked with the venom from Arbok's attack, and Arbok was thoroughly electrocuted and was most likely paralyzed.

Ariana seemed to wake up after her Pokémon was hit with the devastating attack. "Earthquake!" She commanded.

"Give that snake some swagger!" I smirked.

"Lux." Luxray responded, confusing the poison type before it could shake the earth around them.

The Arbok struck itself in the eye with her tail, crying out in pain, much to Ariana's dismay.

"Snarl!" I called, pleasure filling me as Ariana began to panic. Luxray nodded, ferociously snarling at Arbok, blowing the pathetic thing to the ground, defeated.

Luxray gave a roar of triumph, looking to me for approval.

_Why is it always looking back at me for a praise? Does it want to make me proud? _I pondered, giving an awkward half nod of approval.

"Excellent." I said hardly. A faint spark of happiness and pleasure flickered for half a second in Luxray's gaze. I would've given it a light pat on the head if he wasn't still soaked from the sludge bomb.

I returned the sludgy pokemon to his poke ball, smirking arrogantly at the commander. "Looks like I'm the one with the better Pokémon, bitch." I laughed, enjoying the rage in her eyes.

She forced a shrug. "Oh well, at least I'm smarter than you. I've actually seen the _real_ outside world. You've only seen a little on TV when Giovanni allows it." She smirked, returning her fallen Pokémon and exiting the arena.

I nodded at my two escorts, telling them that I was ready to go back. "Actually, your appointment with Gio- I mean your father is in ten minutes." One said curtly, cowering with shame as the other grunt glared at him for making a mistake. I rose an eyebrow, but shrugged and followed them without a second thought.

XXXXX

"It's time you knew." He said, his Persion curled up on his lap.

"Knew what? What that first chip does?" I asked challengingly. "That is for a… later day. Today you must learn of what I have been prepping you for since day one." Giovanni said, scratching Persion behind his ears.  
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms in frustration. "Fine, what is it that I've been training for?" I grumbled, refusing to make eye contact.

"The reason we've made your body fire resistant, a lightning rod, have advanced lungs, and condition your body to this extent is because in order to acquire something very important, you must become a Pokémon ranger."

**Whoa! who'd seen that one coming?! Ok, next chapter coming soon along with the next chapters of Lost and WillowClan and probably Selection Course ~ Later!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2~**

My eyes widened. "What? WHAT?" I yelled, unable to believe that going to school would be the biggest day of my life.

"I've been training my entire life… just so I can go party with the weak at some random school?" I snapped, furious.

Giovanni stared sternly at me. "Zaria, this is no joke. You are going to ranger school for numerous reasons." I glared in response.

"What do I need to learn? I'm stronger than Proton, smarter than Petrel, and a better battler than Ariana! What more do you want from me?"

He nodded. "Why do you think I chose you to do this instead of one of them?" He asked coolly.

I bit my lip, trying to think of something snarky to say without success. "What do you need me to do at school?" I asked.

"Learn to be a ranger of course, but also learn to pretend to be one of the weak. Do NOT become weak, just try to 'befriend' them. Try to blend in as best you can. I will tell you more after you graduate from Ranger school." Giovanni explained, patting his Pokémon on the head.

Knowing better than to argue, I nodded and silently left the room.

XXXXX

For the past few days, I had worked out, trained Luxray, and watched some TV to learn how the weak behave. I guess I wasn't allowed to watch TV when I was younger in case the shows influenced me in some negative manor.

He didn't want my mind to become infatuated with the idea of treating Pokémon as equals. As they were obviously put on this earth to serve people.

They win our wars for us, in the past they hunted for us, they settle arguments for us, the do heavy lifting for us. All that gibberish on the TV that Arceus created us and all Pokémon to be equal is a big pile of BS. Luxray and I weren't equal. He doesn't order me around, and he obeys my command.

It's clear that my genes are superior to his, making him automatically submissive to me. The Pokémon allows itself to be caged in a small plastic ball. Luxray was born to serve me. It's just that simple.

I am truly grateful for my father shielding me from all that nonsense, now sending me off to ranger school? Not so much.

XXXX

I was nearly finished packing. The ranger school allows each student to bring two bags. My first one was all the way packed, being just clothes.

The other suit case contained a few of my basic thirty-pound weights, Luxray's poke ball, a few empty pokeballs in case I have a chance to capture any for myself, and… and… alright, this is a little embarrassing but truth is, I still sleep with the same Umbreon plush that I've had since I was born.

I can't go without it, (weak I know) so It's coming with. The only reason I haven't beaten myself for still sleeping with my childhood doll was because it was an Umbreon, a dark type with cold, desolate, blood-red eyes that gives the average child nightmares. But yes, it is horribly embarrassing and no one, not even the grunts that usually cater towards me don't know that I still find comfort in this thing.

The plush is the last thing that I packed. I then began to pick at my nails, impatiently waiting for my escorts to take me to the airport so I could go to… I think it's called… Almia? It's right around a nine hour flight from Kanto, where I am now.

Ms. April, my teacher, is going to pick me up from the air port. If I could, I'd have Luxray's ball where I usually keep it: around my waist on my poke ball belt, but apparently, you aren't allowed to have any Pokémon while you're in school. Especially if you're in ranger school.

All this, 'rangers protect and befriend Pokémon' BS sickened me.

Like I said before, Luxray was born to serve ME. Not to live out in the wild and do absolutely nothing.

I'm just hoping that after I do whatever it is that my father wants that I'll become an official member of Team Rocket. And not just a grunt, I want an Admiral position, you know, to be next in line after Giovanni. Just with winning arm wrestling with all the other admirals, and beating them in Pokémon battles and scoring higher than them in advanced mathematical tests and stuff makes me better.

I want to be an admiral as soon as possible.

XXXX

The plane ride wasn't too bad. It was at night so I basically slept the whole time, trying to keep as far away as I could from the guy sitting next to me.

I had awoken when the lights got turned on, my face was pressed against the plane window. I stretched my arms, accidently punching the man next to me in the face.

I didn't apologize to him and just got out of the plane with my stuff and began to look for Ms. April.

XXXX

Ms. April tried to make conversation with me in the car during the drive to the school, but I made my answers curt and made no attempt to deepen the conversation. So, much to my relief, most of the car ride was driven in utter silence.

I looked out the car windows. Almia looks much different than Kanto. Almia didn't have very many residents, whilst Kanto had a booming population, with at least forty people per town. Almia seemed to have at the most forty people in each city, aside from Pueltown of course. Vientown seemed like an ok town as we drove through it.

"That building with the grass roof is the ranger base." Ms. April smiled, seeing if that would get me talking.

I only nodded slowly. "Not too shabby. " I forced the words out of my mouth, trying to make them not sound distasteful.

"The ranger school is just up this road." She continued speaking, her voice quickly irritating me, as I was used to little speaking each day (and her voice sounded like she was talking to a bunch of two year olds).

"I bet you're going to love living with the other girls, they're all so great and-" I just tuned her out after that.

XXX

The school was much larger than I'd originally thought. Nearly as large as Team Rocket's HQ.

"Oh no, don't go in there yet. You have to pass the ranger initiation to prove that you are capable of using a styler." Ms. April explained.

I rose an eyebrow and gave a nervous laugh. "But I don't know how to work a styler. That's why I'm going to school here, you know, to LEARN HOW." I glared, unable to play nicely anymore.

Ms. April didn't seem to notice my frustration, and pointed me towards a what looked like an oversized garden shed that was around fifty feet away from the school.

"Can I drop my stuff off before I go?" I asked, wanting this lady to just leave me alone.

Ms. April shook her head, looking a little annoyed that I was being this rude towards her. "Sorry." I muttered.

Ms. April sighed. "It's fine, I'd be like this too if I was on a plane for nine hours. But no, you have to capture the Pikachu inside the building before you can get settled in; it's tradition." Ms. April said patiently, gesturing once more to the building.

"Alright, well I'll see you in class ok? Remember, you don't have to come until five 'O clock." She reminded me, strolling back inside of the classroom.

I waited until she was inside before digging through one of my suit cases for Luxray's poke ball. "Never know when I might need his services." I muttered, plucking the red and white ball from the case.

I pushed the small button in the center of the ball, minimizing it so the ball would fit inconspicuously in my hand.

I sighed, walking into the oversized garden shed.

XXXX

"Hehe… you are now about to complete the initiation to be accepted into Team School… and then, together we shall rule the world!" Mr. Kaplan laughed, only to get smacked in the stomach by Ms. Claire.

"Will you quit telling the new students that?" She snapped.

"Alright, Maria is it? Our Pikachu is taking a break from being the capture test Pokémon, so while he rests, you will be capturing Charmander instead." She smiled, gesturing to the electric type who slept soundly atop a wood crate. She then gestured to the fire type in the center of the room.

"Um… my name's not Maria-"

"Here's your school styler." Mr. Kaplan interrupted me, tossing me a small capture styler.

I sighed. "Alright." My fingers instinctively went to Luxray's poke ball button to release him, but then I remembered that I couldn't use Luxray.

"Damn it." I muttered quiet enough so the teachers wouldn't hear me.

I flicked the styler on, nearly jumping when the capture disk shot itself onto the ground, twirling around in a circle like a spinning top. I moved the actual styler up, the disk quickly followed the movement, sharply shooting further up the floor, still spinning in a circle.

"You getting the hang of it, Maria?" Ms. Claire asked. I couldn't help but glare at her.

"It's Zaria!" I snapped, spooking the Charmander, who shot embers at a collection of wood crates in the corner of the room.

The fire rapidly spread from crate to crate, making the terrified Pikachu leap off the crate he was sleeping on, frantically running around the room, sparking at the flames which only made them grow in size. Soon flames lit the walls of the capture building, smoke filling my lungs.

"Maria! Follow us!" Ms. Claire yelled, following Mr. Kaplan out of the burning classroom.

Smoke stung at my eyes. _If father was here he'd tell me to rescue the Pikachu… Become the hero of the school to gain their trust. _I thought, looking around for the electric type.

Embers and flames lapped at my legs, but did no damage.

I was blinded by the smoke, but I still quickly began looking for the Pokémon, my silver gaze scanning through the flames and billows of smoke.

I released Luxray from his poke ball, ignoring the fact that he could get hurt.

"Lux!" Luxray cried, fear filling his gaze. "Luxray, use your X-ray vision to find Pikachu." I commanded, awaiting the Pokémon's response. Luxray hastily looked through the flames. "Ray!" He growled, flicking his tail towards the back of the room.

I nodded, returning Luxray before he collapsed from the smoke. I fearlessly walked through the flames, looking calmly for the Pikachu.

"Chu…" Pikachu nervously squeaked, eyeing me from afar. A faint grin crossed my face when I saw him. My pace quickened until I reached him, scooping the small Pokémon up.

I turned to exit the building when my eyesight failed me. The smoke had blinded me, rendering me useless. And to make matters worse, only my skin was fire-proof, not my insides.

My lungs where still screaming in pain from the fire. I gasped when I felt something fluffy wrap around my right leg. My first reaction was to kick the fluffy thing, but then whatever had my leg seemed to be guiding me out to safety.

Suddenly, I froze. My legs locked up and I couldn't move. I collapsed onto the ground, writhing around the flaming floor in pain almost as if I was having a seizure of some sort.

_XXXX_

_White and fluffy clouds painted a light blue sky as 'I' zoomed through the sky faster than any jet. 'My' face looked behind 'me' for a brief moment, one of 'my' golden wings visible as 'I' checked my surroundings._

**I tried to humanize Zaria a little with the plush and how she felt kinda helpless without Luxray's assistance. Hope I did this right. ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3~**

My vision was blurry as I woke up from that seizure thing, my eyes and lungs still burned, but I hadn't gotten any worse for some reason… My vision began to clear.

My eyes widened with shock when I saw who my rescuer was: It was a Flareon, using protect to shield me from the smoke and ash.

"Flareon?" My voice cracked, unable to understand why this thing went out of its way to help me.

"Eon!" Flareon cried, giving me a wink of assurance.

I was about to smile when I remembered my father's warning of not to grow weak and _love_ your Pokémon. Instead of thanking the fire type, I shot it an angry retort. "Alright cut the heroic shit and get me out of here!" I snapped.

A hurt look flashed in the Pokémon's eyes, but it nodded solemnly helping me to my feet. Enormous pillars of wood had fallen from the roof of the building during my minor black out, blocking most exits. "Why couldn't you have just been a Vaporeon?" I muttered, looking disappointedly at the Flareon.

Flareon stared at the ground for a moment before tackling a flaming wood pillar out of my way.

I forced a nod of approval as it looked back at me. "Yeah, yeah you're strong-ish." I muttered, picking Pikachu up off the ground and walking through the flames with ease.

The light of day shone brightly where the door had once been.

"Time to make my grand entrance." I grinned, looking around for the Flareon only to see that the Eeveelution was nowhere to be seen. I shrugged before leaping out into the refreshing daylight.

XXXX

Water types were dowsing the flames, steadily reducing them. Students stared wide eyed at the burning building, having heard that the newest student was still inside, most likely being barbequed by the flames. Ms. Claire was sobbing, saying it was her fault for picking a skittish fire type for a first time ranger to capture.

"Now not only is poor Pikachu doomed, but poor Maria is done for too!" She wailed, sinking into her knees.

A very light-haired blond girl, much like Zaria, stood watching the fire consume the capture target classroom, leaving only ash in its wake. A spiky-haired brunet stood beside the blond, leaning casually against a thick oak, absentmindedly carving a skull into the bark of the tree, acting as though there was no fire.

"How can you just sit there and watch a Pokémon and a new student just burn like this!" The girl yelled, gnawing at her finger nails in nervousness.

The boy shrugged. "The new dude was supposed to be a ranger like me so… less competition for me!" He laughed.

The girl glared at him, tearing his school styler from his waist and hitting him upside the head with it.

"Oww! What was that for?" He snapped, ripping the styler from her hands.

The girl opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the murmurs of uncertainty and fear that quickly filled the crowd.

The boy's and girl's eyes widened when a girl, burn free, leapt out from the flames, a Pikachu wrapped in one arm, and a styler in her other hand. The flames seemed to vaporize into thin air when she stepped away from the burning building. Ash and soot were blown from her charred clothing as the light, gentle breeze that blew in from the forest swept them neatly onto the earth.

The Pikachu wriggled free of her grasp, sprinting towards his master, Ms. Claire, who welcomed it into her arms, sobbing into its yellow fur.

XXXX

Well I'd done it. Everyone was marveling at how I saved the dumb Pikachu and evaded injury myself.

Paramedics had helped me clear my lungs of the smoke, and I managed to get my two bags away from the burning building just before they caught fire. I can't imagine life without my weights. And my doll…

After the fire had been taken care of, the doctors said that I was deemed healthy enough to join class, which was just starting now. Ms. April said that I could keep all my stuff at her desk until class ended so no one messed with it.

When Ms. April wasn't looking, I snuck Luxray's poke ball back into one of my bags so I didn't have to think about hiding him during class.

Finally class began. I stood beside Ms. April as she began to speak. "Alright class, you may recognize this student from earlier this morning. Her name is Maria?" She asked, looking to me for approval.

I face palmed. "It's Zaria." I muttered, my voice exasperated.

Ms. April quickly shook her head. "Oh, sorry Zaria. Her name's Zaria. She's from the Kanto region." She informed the class.

"So where do I sit?" I asked, looking for an empty seat.

Ms. April smiled. "Oh you can sit right there in the middle row. Next to Keith and Rhythmi." She said, gesturing for them to raise their hands. A long haired blond girl much like myself rose her hand, and a brunet boy rose his hand grudgingly, not bothering to meet my gaze.

My hands in my pockets, I strode over to the two, taking the empty seat besides Keith, who was currently etching a drawing of a Serviper into his desk with a pencil.

"Keith stop doing that! Do you want to pay for a new desk?" Ms. April snapped, slapping a meter stick onto his desk, making his head jerk up in surprise.

Ms. April sighed, eyeing Keith angrily. "Alright class, since we have a new student you can leave class now if you'd like. I'm sure Maria- erm Zaria would like to look around and get settled before it gets dark." Ms. April said, removing the meter stick from Keith's desk.

Other class members smiled my way as though to thank me for letting them out of their last class of the day early. I gave a stiff nod, my eyes staring at the green carpeted floor.

The blond girl leapt out of her seat, her hand outstretched in greeting.

I eyed the hand oddly, slowly accepting her offer, Giovanni's command to 'befriend' the weak echoing in my mind.

"I'm Rhythmi, an aspiring operator." She grinned, shaking my hand.

Remembering the 'social graces classes that I attended for those last few days before I departed to Almia, I responded appropriately. "The name's Zaria. Don't wear it out." I said dryly.

I turned to the brunet, who had finally gotten out of his seat, waiting to shake my hand. "My name's Keith," he said with a flirtatious wink.

My gut churned at his comment, barely suppressing a gag. "I'm going to be a top ranger." He boasted, plucking his cheap school styler off his belt. I rolled my eyes, repeating my previous greeting.

"So are you going to try to be a ranger?" He asked, smirking.

I gave an arrogant grin. "I don't know if I'll pass, but at least I know I'll do better than you." Keith's smirk faded out into a grimace.

"We'll have to see about that." He growled.

"Hey wait, what was your name again?" Rhythmi asked, her face brimming with curiosity. "Zaria." I muttered. Her eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh! Are you named after _the _Zaria? You know, the goddess of beauty in Slavic Mythology?" She asked, not waiting for my reply, she began to drone on the goddess I was named after.

"A once-popular goddess also associated with the morning," She continued.

"Wow thanks, I'm named after a once popular goddess." I muttered, grimacing at her comments.

Rhythmi continued to spew out facts. "Zaria was known to her worshippers as "the heavenly bride." She was greeted at dawn as "the brightest maiden, pure, sublime, honorable." She was also known as a water priestess that protected warriors. She is depicted as a warrior goddess, fully armed and courageous, and was invoked to protect against death in battle with the prayer 'Defend me, O maiden, with your veil from the enemy, from the arquebus and arrow...' She is a patroness of protection, exorcism, and Slaves would pray to her each morning as the sun rose. In some tales, she sits under the World Tree on the fiery-stone Alatuir, from which run the four rivers of the Otherworld, and under her seat flows the river of healing. And-"

"Ok that's enough Rhythmi." I growled. Rhythmi blushed embarrassedly when she realized just how long she talked about the goddess.

I turned to Keith, who looked like he'd fallen half asleep during Rhythmi's lesson on the goddess.

I snapped my fingers in Keith's face. "Hey wake up." I snapped.

"Wha?" Keith gasped, nearly falling over when he came to.

"I hate my name." I muttered.

"But why? Zaria is a very pure name." Rhythmi asked, careful not to start giving us a history lecture again.

"Exactly!" I spat. "It's embarrassing! Being named after something like that."

"But-" "I don't want to talk about this anymore." I yelled, ending the conversation.

Rhythmi stayed silent for a few moments before speaking again. "So do you want to see your new bed? All the girls have bunk beds. The top of my bunk is empty so you can sleep there if you want. Or there's always the floor…"

"The guys do too." Keith chimed in.

I rose an eyebrow. "And I'd care about that why?"

Keith shrugged. "I dunno, just so you know that you ladies aren't getting any special treatment."

"Idiot."

"Stupid."

"Retard."

"And this is coming from a girl who couldn't even capture a charmander."

"You watch your mouth ranger boy."

"Or else what?"

"Or else I'll F your face up."

"Wow you can't even curse?"

"You want to hear me say the actual word?"

"I dare you."

"Fine! F-"

"Stop it!" Rhythmi snapped, pulling us apart.

XXXX

"Why did you let Keith egg you on so much?" Rhythmi asked, carrying the lighter suitcase while I carried the one with all my weights inside.

"I have a stubborn streak." I shrugged, waiting for Rhythmi to open the door to the girls' dormitory. The inside was fairly small, with only about eight other girls inside.

"Where's all the others?" I asked, setting the suitcase down with a thud.

"This school's pretty expensive. Most of us are only here because of scholarships. There's not too many other boys either." Rhythmi explained.

_Wow… I guess my father's richer than he lets on… _I though, realizing just how lucky I was.

"Did you get in through scholarships too?" Rhythmi asked.

I shook my head. "Nope." I said, popping the P.

Her eyes widened. "How rich are you?" She asked, envy prickling her voice.

I shrugged. "Rich enough." "How big is your house?"

"About the size of the school, a little bigger though."

"Lucky! You live in a mansion?"

I considered her accusation before responding. I'd seen pictures of mansions and they typically had fountains and luscious greenery perfectly pruned to the correct length with Pokémon frolicking stupidly about in the yards.

The Team Rocket HQ didn't have much greenery, nor any playing Pokémon, as it was located out in the desert, far from civilization. The building was made of concrete and had an ominous, eerie feeling to it.

"Well I wouldn't say that…" I said at last.

"You're still lucky." Rhythmi muttered, setting my bag down. "Well that drawer over in the left dresser is yours to put underwear and socks in and stuff, and you can put your pants and shirts in the closet. Just make sure to write your name on the hanger." Rhythmi informed me, sitting on her bed.

I nodded, unzipping my bag with the weights inside, wanting to lift a little before I got ready for bed.

The other girls eyed me oddly as I pulled a forty-pounder from my bag.

"You packed weights?" A blue haired girl asked.

I nodded. "I have to keep in shape." I replied, easily lifting it with a single hand.

"I wouldn't be lifting weights tonight, you'll need your energy." Rhythmi advised.

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"You have to go through the initiation, you know, break curfew and find everyone's styler?" The blue haired girl spoke again, filing her nails down.

"Do I have to go with anyone?"

"Well it would be smart to pick a partner because you don't really know the school all that well." Rhythmi spoke this time.

"Will it be you?" "Well traditionally, you go with one of the opposite gender."

"Well then Keith's coming with me whether he wants to or not." I decided, placing the forty pound weight back in the bag.

"LIGHTS OUT!" A teacher yelled.

The girls scrambled around the dormitory, scrambling under their bed sheets and pretending to sleep.

I quickly took my plush from my bag and climbed up the ladder of the bunk bed, pulling back to covers and sliding in with the Umbreon plush, it's staring blood-red eyes watching me creepily.

I began to think about the Flareon that had helped me earlier. I had been a bit cruel to it, but then again, it's just a Pokémon.

It doesn't have feelings… does it?

**Ok, so next chapter Zaria completes the initiation and the plot line will move forward. REVIEW ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4~**

**I just wanted to say, thank you thank you thank you for all the reviews! So yes, thank you Suicuneepic and Elite Umbreon for being the first reviewers of my story I love you guys for doing that. ^_^**

"What? Why me?" Keith protested as I drafted him to come along with me. I glared at him.

"Because I said so."

"Yeah but-"

"Keith just go with her." Rhythmi pleaded.

Keith rolled his eyes. "Fine."

I smirked. "Thank you."

I then realized just how much awkward it felt talking with these two, I can taunt them (mainly Keith) like I do with Ariana, have a rivalry with Keith much like I do with Proton in the muscle category, and I can compete with grades against Rhythmi as I did with Petrel.

I can't really talk to anyone else though. Ms. April's just flat out annoying, and well I really don't know anyone else yet.

"Hang on, Keith. Let me get something real quick." I muttered, walking loudly back into my dorm room, digging through my bag until I found Luxray.

XXX

With us being in the cover of darkness, I clipped Luxray onto my belt without worrying that someone would see him. I rushed back outside the dorms, walking down the stairs without telling Keith that I was leaving. "Hey!" Keith yelled, running after me, nearly falling down the stairs.

"Have to be quicker." I sneered, not slowing down. "Hate you." He muttered, quickly catching up.

XXX

When we reached the main floor of the school, I have to admit the darkness was very consuming. The floor was more eerie than the HQ at night, and that's saying something.

Of course, I wasn't about to admit my fear to Keith, who also seemed determined not to let anything but his bravery and arrogance show.

I gritted my teeth. "Luxray would be so helpful right now." I muttered quietly.

"What?" Keith asked, looking back at me in surprise.

I shook my head quickly. "Nothing."

Keith shrugged. "Ok, if you say so."

We walked down the pitch dark halls in silence until we reached Ms. April's room. "Alright, there's a styler in here." Keith said simply.

I gave a curt nod before pushing the door open.

It was even darker inside the classroom, sending chills down my spine as I looked blindly around the dark room. "Come on, Zaria, just find the styler so we can go back upstairs." Keith said hastily.

My eyes widened. "You remembered!" I cheered.

Keith tilted his head in response. "Remembered what?"

"My name! You're the first person I've met outside of home to get my name right!"

"Oh, ok then." Keith replied.

I rolled my eyes. "I hate you."

"Sure you do…"

"Ew."

"You may say that you hate me, but you're eyes say-" I cut him off with a swift, powerful punch to the face.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"Don't flirt with me." I said warningly.

"Ok, ok geez!"

I suppressed a small, girly giggle at his comment, feeling disgusted that I'd even make such a noise.

Suddenly, a bright yellow glow that lasted for about half a second caught my eye. I looked to Keith to see it he'd seen it, but he didn't appear to have.

I hesitantly moved my feet towards where I'd seen the flash. It had come from behind a cluster of desks that Ms. April had moved so the janitors could vacuum her room. I carefully made my way around the desks and saw a small school styler tucked craftily in the nook of a corner, just beyond my grasp.

It touched my hand after only a few seconds of reaching, but I hadn't gotten it myself… it seemed almost as though the darkness itself nudged it a few millimeters to my finger tips.

I blinked in surprise, taking the styler and getting to my feet. "Got it." I said.

Keith nodded, grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the eerily empty dark classroom out into the even creepier hallway. I tore my wrist free from Keith's hand.

"Don't touch me." I scowled, glaring at him.

Keith stopped abruptly. "I get girls, but I don't get you." He said suddenly.

I stopped and rose an eyebrow at him in the darkness. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, most girls would blush and giggle if I touched their hand. You just scowl and slap me. Why?"

"Why? WHY? Maybe because I don't give an F about having a relationship, especially with a guy like you!" I snapped.

Keith smirked. "Still can't say it?"

"Say what?"

"The F word."

I glared at him. "I can say what I want to say, bitch." I growled.

"Whatevs." Keith shrugged.

XXX

We then continued out walk in silence until we reached the library. The library made all of the hairs on my neck stand up, shadows and dark nooks and crannies made the library probably one of the world's scariest places to visit at night.

I slowly inched closer to Keith, not wanting him to notice how scared I was. At night I was all bark and no bite. Keith didn't seem to notice me nearly pressed up against him.

But I wasn't crying. I don't cry. Not at movies, not with books, not with death. I simply don't cry like most girls would. I also don't whimper and shake when I get scared, I just start sweating until there's beads of sweat across my forehead.

"A-alright. We're both gonna be rangers, and rangers aren't scared of stuff like a creepy… empty… dark library." Keith mumbled.

I nodded, almost forgetting that I wasn't here to become an actual ranger. I just needed an undercover life so I could do whatever it is Giovanni wants.

Then it hit me: I'm doing this for Giovanni, the father who's never spent a single _second_ of time with me. When it's my birthday, he bribes me with weights and new activities for me to do _alone_ just so he can sit in that stupid office with that stupid Persion and scare people all day while I stay all alone in my room without even a TV to watch.

"Why am I doing this?" I asked out loud.

"Because it's tradition?" Keith suggested bluntly, his knees buckled and shivering.

I shook my head, ignoring Keith's response. _No, no. I'm sure most parents leave their children alone all day… every day. _I thought, contradicting my previous thought. I quickly snapped myself back into reality when the bright flash of yellow shone in the corner of my eye briefly once again.

I left Keith's side suddenly, darting to a bookshelf. I felt around the worn shelf until I saw a small gap in the back, the styler jammed into the small crevice. I yanked the styler free from the shelf, holding it up to Keith, who's eyes lit up at the sight of the styler.

"How'd you find it so quickly? Rhythmi said that she hid it in a good hiding spot." Keith asked.

I shrugged. "I just knew." I said quietly, not knowing how to explain the flashes of light.

We quickly exited the library, our chests heaving with relief. "Alright, the teachers' lounge is up next, then we just have to put the stylers back in Mr. Kincaid's little room in the basement, and then we get to go to sleep." He said with a sigh.

I shrugged.

"Kay."

XXX

The teachers' lounge was about as creepy as Ms. April's room, a little more though because of the MOVING shadow with the styler tied to its neck.

I shrieked, jumping back a little and knocking Keith backwards. Keith laughed. "Ha! I knew putting my styler around the Pichu would psych you out!"

I cracked my knuckles in warning.

He shut up after that. I plucked one of the stylers from my pockets, activating the capture styler and capturing the Pokémon with little difficulty, roughly taking the styler from it. I blinked in surprise, as the flashing light didn't aid me this time.

XXX

Our footsteps echoed on the concrete stairs as we made our way down to Mr. Kincaid's office. "Ok, you know I think we should just leave the stylers in front of his office door. Sometimes Mr. Kincaid can't sleep so he goes and works downstairs until it's time for him to work again.

I gave him a look of confusion. "Who's Mr. Kincaid again?" I asked.

Keith's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Trust me, you'll smell him before you see him. That dude wears so much hair spray it's not even funny." He muttered.

I nodded my acknowledgement, lost in thought of what might happen if someone lit a fire around him...

Something in the shadows seemed to sprint right past me deeper into the basement, interrupting my thoughts. I had felt something brush my legs briefly. My eyes narrowed. "You feel like something's watching us?"

Keith nodded. "Yeah, it's giving me the chills." I opened my mouth to reply.

"BAAAAT! ZUUU ZUUBATT!" Earsplitting screeches filled out ears as a hoard of Zubat surrounded us.

My eyes widened with horror. I sent Luxray out without a second thought. Keith's eyes widened even further than my own.

"You have a Pokémon?!"

**Dun, dun, dun! My first really bad cliffy Hehe. REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5~**

I barely even heard what Keith said about me having Luxray out. My focus was on the large swarm of Zubat.

"GHASS! STTTTLY!" My head snapped around to see a group of Ghastly as well.

"Shit." I said.

"We are screwed aren't we?" Keith nodded, not taking his eyes off Luxray.

"Yep. We're screwed alright. Since you have THAT," He said looking at my large electric type. "You take the Zubat and I'll handle the Ghastly."

I nodded, my eyes narrowed at the Zubat who dared to defy me. "Luxray, use-"

"What? You can't battle them! This is a ranger school not a trainers' school!" Keith snapped.

I shot him a glare. "I. Don't. Care." I said, turning back to my Pokémon.

"Luxray, knock these suckers out with a thunder fang!" Luxray's fangs glistened with sparkling electricity as he made a fearless leap into the swarm. The Zubat quickly moved out of the way, making Luxray slam his head into the concrete walls.

"Ray!" He cried, shaking his head quickly as he began to recover.

Keith gave an impatient sigh. "Those Zubat are too smart for Pokémon trainers! Kincaid trained them so only capture stylers really work!"

"Could've mentioned that earlier you know!" I snapped, pulling my styler out, flipping the 'on' switch.

"Sorry, kind of busy to mention all the details here!" He yelled, looking over his shoulder as he captured Ghastly after Ghastly. I quickly began to capture Zubat after Zubat as well, with the help of Luxray's electric attacks.

"See? They respond pretty well to ranger stylers." Keith smirked as he captured his final Ghastly.

I rolled my eyes, giving a stiff nod of agreement as I captured final two Zubat with one loop. I looked around. "I think I got all of them-"

"Zaria… I-" My eyes drifted towards Keith, who fell to the floor, his body racked with pain as he squirmed and struggled against himself on the floor.

My eyes widened. "Keith!" I cried, forgetting all about Giovanni telling me not to care about people like him.

His eyes where wide, his pupils dilated in his skull. I peeled his eye lids back and stared into his eye. I grumbled in frustration and aggressively shoved his head back in anger.

I looked back to Luxray, who looked just as confused as I was. My eyes widened. "Wait… no. It can't be the same thing that happened to me back in the fire could it?" I thought aloud, trying to remember the vision that my little seizure thing gave me.

I looked to Luxray again for an answer. He didn't meet my gaze. I gagged at a familiar chemically scent. Footsteps echoed in the hallway.

"Who's here after curfew? Uh! I bet my life savings that it was Keith! He's always running in the halls and sleeping in class. Why the nerve of him!" A voice grumbled. I quickly identified the scent as hairspray, a lot of it too.

"Kincaid." I whispered, my eyes suddenly wide with fear of getting caught. Back at the Team Rocket HQ I never broke a single rule, I never left my room without en escort, I never dared to break any of Giovanni's precious items while alone in his office, I never did anything to get yelled at, (unless I even dared to looked at Ariana.) I froze, not knowing what else to do but take it.

My arm stiffly called Luxray back to his poke ball so I wouldn't have to deal with getting caught not only after curfew but with a Pokémon as well. Kincaid's shadow was cast on the wall, giving me the chills. A blond man with hair that had so much hairspray in it that it looked like plastic.

"You-" He began to yell until a shadow darted from the corner of the room, appearing in front of me in an instant. A radiant yellow glow surrounded the shadow. Blood red eyes appeared on the shadow's face as it transformed into something I could see. A tail, sleek black body, four legs, and ears grew on the shadow.

"An Umbreon?" I realized, staring at it in awe. "How'd it hide like that?" I asked myself, forgetting Kincaid's presence.

THUD.

My gaze flickered to Kincaid, who was now sprawled out on the floor, fast asleep.

I saw an almost transparent circular ray absorbing into Kincaid's head.

"Hypnosis!" I cried, quickly identifying the attack.

My head tilted slightly to the right in confusion. "What's with all these eeveelutions helping me all the sudden? Am I not intimidating enough to these things or something?" I asked, looking to the dark Pokémon.

I gasped as the Umbreon ignored my rude comments and gave me a wink, much like the Flareon that helped me back in the fire.

"No way…"

The Umbreon ignored my thoughts, it's yellow rings giving a quick, bright yellow flash that lasted for a little less than thirty seconds. My eyes widened even more.

"It was you wasn't it?! You-you're the one who gave me all those hints to where the stylers where! You're to one who pushed that styler closer to my hand back in April's classroom, and you helped me find every last styler!" I gaped, not believing that a free Pokémon actually helped me.

The Umbreon nodded, giving me another wink before evaporating into the darkness, leaving me alone with an unconscious teacher and a boy who's having a seizure.

From the books that I'd read, I knew not to move someone who was having a seizure so I turned my attention to Kincaid. I hadn't ever really gotten in trouble before, as the people I grew up with where rough and tough. But these people… they are much, much different. They seemed to get upset with things that would've gotten me a praise back home.

My eyes flickered to Keith, relief washing over me as he stopped having the seizure. He blinked a few times, looking around at the concrete setting.

"Hey, enough sleeping!" I snapped, pulling him to his feet.

Keith glared at me, staggering a bit as he brushed the dust from his pajamas. "Excuse me for having a vis-seizure!" He snapped, a flash of worry crossing his eyes.

My eyes sparked with interest. "Say, do you happen to have these… 'seizures' often?" I asked. He nodded slowly, refusing to meet my gaze. I grinned.

"Well then it appears that we share two similar problems."

Keith tilted his head.

"Well first off, we have an unconscious teacher who's gonna murder us if we don't do something with him." I laughed, gesturing to the man who I'd put to sleep with the Umbreon's assistance.

Keith smirked at the sleeping man, barely able to contain himself. "What? How'd you do that?" He snickered, marveling at his least favorite teacher.

"My little secret." I smirked.

Keith pouted a little, but I wouldn't snap.

"Fine whatever! Don't tell the king of pranks how you put the living hairspray can to sleep without a Pokémon!" He mumbled. "But, lucky for you, I've been in this sort of situation before so I know what to do."

I rose an eyebrow. "And that would be?"

"We drag him back into his office, put him in his wheelie chair and put his hands on his computer keyboard so he thinks that he just fell asleep and had a bad dream." Keith explained.

I nodded curtly, following his logic. We each took an arm and dragged the teacher back down the hallway towards his room. His room was a mess: papers were crumpled and dispersed throughout the floor, the bookshelf's contents untidy and sloppy looking. The only clean spots in the room was the wheelie chair and the desk that held the computer. Four really thick text books were stacked up beside the screen, the words ADVANCED etched into each spine.

"And I thought I was messy." Keith snickered, helping me heave the man onto the chair. I slapped his arms onto the keyboard, making sure to put one hand on the mouse. Keith lolled the man's head onto his shoulder, gagging and coughing as the man's smelly hair passed under his nose. "And…. done! He won't remember a thing." Keith grinned, offering to fist-bump me.

It took me a second to catch on before I returned the fist-bump.

"Ok, well we took care of Kincaid and the stylers so we can go back to bed now-"

"Wait! Don't you want to see what Mr. Hairspray here has in all these cabinets?" I asked slyly, opening a cabinet.

Keith's expression brightened as I pulled out two cans of hairspray.

"Wow, what are the odds?" I joked, tossing them to Keith, who greedily caught them. "Hey here's an idea! Let's take all his hairspray and throw all the cans in the little pond near the Pledge stone; then write in red spray paint in front of the pond: I pledge to help Kincaid overcome his hairspray addiction." Keith said jokingly.

I snickered. "That actually sounds like fun, but we can have even more fun if we hide the hairspray in with our stuff, then leave notes in his classroom asking for demands. Each time he does what we want, we grant him a can." I suggested, a mischievous gleam in my eyes.

Keith rose an eyebrow. "You know that idea doesn't actually suck." Keith complimented me, digging through another cabinet and raiding it of all its hairspray.

I laughed a little. "Keith, you may be a complete numbskull but you know how to have a good time." Keith smiled at my comment, beginning to gather up his collection of hairspray.

"Wait." He said.

I looked up from the cabinet to face him.

"Yeah?"

"What were you going to say, you know, back before we dragged Kincaid back here?"

"Um… oh! I was going to ask you about your…. 'seizure'."

"Hey what's with the air quotes?"

"Because I know they're not seizures. Back in the fire, I had one too. I saw a vision. I was up in the air with a golden wing." I said, my tone serious.

Keith's eyes widened. "H-how do you- I have those visions all the time, except my wing's aren't ever gold, but more of a greenish blue color. At first my visions were rather short, but lately they've been getting longer and clearer." Keith said, shocked to find someone like him.

My eyes narrowed, strands of hair falling in front of my face. "Really? How long have you had these? I've only had one so far." I asked. "They started right around when I was five, and now I'm what, seventeen? So probably around twelve years or something." He said casually.

"Well at least we know that we're not alone." I muttered, bunching Kincaid's hairspray in my arms and leaving the basement with Keith.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6~

About a week has passed since our raiding of Kincaid's office, and so far Keith and I had gotten our own personal hall passes and we'd bribed Kincaid into convincing the principle to give everyone two days off of school. All the students that Keith knew wouldn't blab about robbing Kincaid were in on it, as we all took turns raiding Kincaid's personal space.

And now that Keith knows about Luxray, I've been sending him to retrieve all of Kincaid's newly bought hairspray cans. I'd take some to add to my stash, and I'd have Luxray drop the rest off at Keith's bed. (Because I'm not about to go into the boys' dorms.)

For a while, I'd actually forgotten the real reason I was here, I also forgot all about Giovanni telling me not to make any friends or show Luxray to anyone. Ha, I actually pretty much forgot about my father all together. But, I'd had two more seizures. One was me seeing through Luxray's eyes while he raided Kincaid, and the other was the sky…. again. I was slowly beginning to piece together that if I was seeing visions of what my Pokémon was doing, then the other vision was most likely of another Pokémon as well. I just don't know which one.

I had decided that the… library…. was going to be my best bet on finding whatever Pokémon I was seeing in my visions. But, since I was finally starting to become an 'idol' to some of the more unruly students, I didn't want to taint my reputation by using my free period to go to the library, so I decided to wait until Kincaid yelled, "LIGHTS OUT!" Before I went out.

I didn't bother with a flashlight or taking Keith or Rhythmi along. I knew that Luxray would do just fine. I don't plan on letting him out though, as I still felt weak from a moment that happened a few days ago… I actually PRAISED Luxray and PETTED the stupid thing! And wait for it… IT PURRED!

All I can say to that is what the f-

So long story short, I don't plan on letting my Pokémon out.

Besides, I really need an hour or two of silence. Anyone would after listening to April drone on and on about the different pokeassists, I get it, each type does something different! Going deep into the history of pokeassists was completely uncalled for! I rolled my eyes at the thought of it.

"Stupid teacher." I muttered as I strode calmly across the darkened corridors.

School really stresses me out so yeah, I took walks every other night to ease myself. At first I trembled with the movement of every shadow, now I stand unflinching at even the evilest looking shadows that my vivid and tired imagination created.

When I'm in the darkness, it's as if my soul goes numb, I believe that I'm at my purest state of mind at night. I felt content as my feet clopped lazily against the wood floors of the halls as I turned a second corner, nearing the school library. I chuckled as I remembered how freaked out and scared I was the first time I came down here with Keith.

I honestly wanted to cry. I stiffened at the thought of shedding tears as I opened the library doors with a creaking sound.

The library still felt a little too eerie, as I never really bothered to waste my nights reading. I'd typically go around with the school Ghastly and set up pranks for the teachers and students for the following morning.

So yeah, the Ghastly aren't… horrible. I guess… I sighed as I stood conflicted in the dark space.

A part of me WANTED to… befriend… these creatures. Like each time I met the Ghastly I demanded more from our relationship, usually without realizing it. Originally, I would shoot them grimaces and glares, and they would stick their tongues out at me and sneer. But with each night I spent with them, we glared and grimaced less, and actually smiled and laughed when in each other's company. But I knew better. I refused to let myself grow too close to these things.

They were placed on this earth to SERVE me. Not to have fun with me. Although I do admit that Pokémon in general are difficult to not to like.

My fingers ran along the spines of the books, some were thick and others were anorexic. My brows furrowed and my eyes narrowed in concentration as I struggled to read the book titles in the darkness. I suppressed a scream when I felt a paw on my calf.

My head whipped around to see… the Umbreon. It had a rather thick book clutched in its jaws, looking rather proud of itself. My eyes squinted to read the text etched onto the spine. I recoiled when Umbreon decided to give me some reading light, its yellow rings illuminating the room.

I resisted praising it or… petting… the thing as I did Luxray. I finally read the text with ease. It read: '**Legends and Lore: Legendary Pokémon**'. I took the book hesitantly from the shadow Pokémon's jaws.

I took a seat at one of the many tables, peeling back the cover. The Umbreon hopped onto the chair beside mine, it's blood red eyes following my finger as it glided across each page. I gave a sigh of impatience and flipped back to the table of contents, my finger finally stopping when I hit the 'flying type' Chapter.

I flipped eagerly to page two-eighty, looking at each picture for a golden winged Pokémon. I grumbled in frustration when I found the only Pokémon that could possibly resemble what I've been seeing, Ho-oh, who's wings aren't even gold or feathered like the Pokémon's in my visions. I growled in anger, slamming the book shut. I pouted a little to myself before crossing my arms on the desk and resting my head on my arms.

Umbreon looked at me and snickered, nosing the book back open. I lifted my head up. "What are you laughing at?" I asked, my eyes narrowed. Umbreon ignored my threat and continued to nose to a completely different section of the book. The Pokémon's behavior peaked my interest. I watched as it stopped at the 'dragons' section of the book. I pulled the book away from the Pokémon, flipping through all the pages with no success. I threw my hands in the air, glaring at the Pokémon. "What was the point of that?" I snapped.

Umbreon rolled it's eyes, nosing a few pages back. "What?" I asked, looking blankly at the picture. "Yeah, the wings and feathering are right, but the color's all off. This thing's wings are red, the ones from all my visions are gold." I contradicted.

The Umbreon placed a black paw on the small tab-mark near the page number.

My eyes widened, I began to shake with this new lead. "Flip here to see shiny form… page R31!" I squealed, flipping wildly to the page.

I nearly fainted when I saw it: It was a Latias, with golden wings. It looked nearly identical to the Pokémon I kept seeing. Without much willpower, I hugged the Umbreon tightly. "Thank you thank you thank you!" I smiled, feeling giddy and excited.

I gasped as I heard a rapping at the window, releasing Umbreon. "What's that noise?" I asked. Umbreon hopped off the chair and hopped onto the window sill, skillfully unlatching it with his teeth. A Honchcrow flew in through the window, a letter clutched in its talons. "Crow, honch!" It screeched, setting the letter in front of me. "You're my dad's, aren't you?" I asked. It gave a curt nod, ushering for me to open the letter.

So I did.

_Zaria,_

_I've been sending you letter after letter after letter, and none of them have been getting to you! You need to keep you window open so Honchcrow can get inside. Now, have you had the visions yet? I must see how powerful the connection between you and that beast is. Are you remembering not to make friends? Are you remembering to-_

I rolled my eyes, not reading on. I crumbled the letter in my fist before shredding it by hand over the trash can near the door. "I don't give a damn about that anymore," I muttered. "You haven't heard from me in almost two weeks and you ask me about my Arceus damn visions? And I can make friends if I want to." I grumbled.

"So you can just go back to my Arceus forsaken father and tell him to f### off-" My voice trailed off as I realized that Honchcrow had left. I looked for Umbreon, only to see that the dark type was gone as well.

I was alone again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7~**

I was still in my pajamas, the heavy library book clutched tightly in my arm as I waited impatiently for Keith to come out.

After five minutes of waiting I'd had it. There was too much to say behind Ms. April's back during class, besides, today was going to be an outdoors class.

I started banging on the doors until Ponte opened the door, looking shocked that a girl would be knocking on the boys' dormitory at all, let alone at five in the morning.

"Wh-" "Move it!" I snapped, shouldering him out of my way. I felt Ponte's gaze bore into my back as I entered the room. Apparently, my barging in had woken most of the boys in the dormitory, with the exception of Keith and some of the other heavy sleepers.

Most wore sleepy grins when they saw me.

I shot them glares indicating that I wasn't here to see them. Yet they still kept their same stupid grins on their faces. I heard them snicker and whisper excitedly to one another.

"Hey,-"

"F#### off!" I snapped, not in the mood to deal with these people.

I expected everyone to shut up after that, but they did the opposite.

"Looks like he wasn't joking." One whispered, the other nodding in agreement.

"Oh Keith!" One of the boys said in a sing-songy voice.

I heard a muffled grunt come out from under what I assumed to be Keith's bed.

Another boy snickered, barely containing himself before finishing his friend's words. "Your girlfriend's here!" He laughed, finally losing it.

That'd done it. Keith shot up, hitting his head on the bed overtop his own. I heard him curse beneath his breath before looking at me, then his roommates.

"What are you talking about?" He snapped, "she's not my girlfriend!"

I glared at his friends as well. "Yeah! That's an insult to me thinking that… THAT," I said, gesturing to the boy. "Would be with me in that… way." I growled, giving them death glares.

It took a second for what I said to sink into Keith's skull, being that he'd just woken up. He glared at me. "Actually, dating me would be a MAJOR upgrade in your department."

I opened my mouth to shoot back a sarcastic comment, but decided otherwise. "I don't have time for this shit." I grumbled, grabbing Keith by the collar of his pajamas, hauling him out of bed.

"Dude stop-" He began, cut off when I gripped his ear and began dragging him out of the dorm room. "Ow, Ow, Ow, OW!" Keith complained, trying to pry my fingers off his ear with little success. He gave a sigh of relief when I let go of his ear.

"What… WAS THAT?" Keith snapped, glaring at me.

I scoffed. "Well if you don't want to see what your visions are then go on back to bed!" I finally peaked Keith's interest.

"You figured them out?"

"Well, partially." I admitted.

"I found out what Pokémon we're dreaming about when we black out." I said, flipping through the thick book until I reached the 'DRAGON' section again.

I found Latias's and Latios's photo and shiny page number, flipping to the number. I pointed to the shiny form of Latias, then to Latios's shiny form, looking to Keith.

He began shaking, a smile forming on his face. "That's… that's him. That's the one I've been seeing for all these years…" He murmured.

I smirked. "Betcha glad that I dragged you outa bed to see this."

He rolled his eyes, punching me in the arm. "You could say that." "Now the next step for us is to figure out what the purpose of these visions are. Perhaps we have their favor?" Keith nodded.

"Yeah, maybe they'll let us ride on 'em and stuff. They'd be really useful if we have to cross over a mountain range or across seas."

"Or from town to town." I added, my face bright with the prospect of flying on the back of a rare Pokémon like Latias.

Keith sighed. "I can't wait to be a ranger." He murmured, staring off into nothing with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"I can't either, Keith." I murmured, faintly smiling.

As I knew, that as long as my father kept a tight collar on me, I would never be real.

XXX

"You two look awfully tired." Rhythmi commented, observing the bags under Keith and I's eyes.

I shrugged. "I like to take walks after dark." I said truthfully.

Rhythmi's eyes widened. "You break curfew?" She gaped, looking at me in disbelief. "What? It's no biggie." I muttered. "I just need time to think without 'Sir Hairspray the great' or Ms. April lecturing me on something."

Keith stayed silent, not wanting to say that I'd practically hit down the door in the middle of the night and dragged him out of bed. He didn't say but I already knew that he didn't want to talk about being bested by a girl.

I choked my smirk down, forcing myself not to think about the pleasure that dragging Keith around by the ear.

"And lifting weights for a few hours before bed doesn't help either." I said, trying to make the conversation less awkward.

Rhythmi shrugged. "Yeah you're right about that one." She smiled.

I smiled back. Rhythmi's innocence was something that I'd never encountered until I was sent to this school. Back home it was always the raw, unfiltered truth and 'who's the best at fighting? the best at battling Pokémon? who's the best at arm wrestling?' Who cares? I used to care, but now I don't give a shit about anything that Ariana and Petrel and Proton and Giovanni or any of the grunts said or did. I decided to complete ranger school, then break away from my father and join the rest of the world.

As long as father didn't cut my funding to go to school here, or send someone to fetch me or even worse- knock some 'sense' into me himself, I know my plan is fool-proof. I just hope he doesn't take this chance away from me.

"Hey, earth to Zaria." Rhythmi said, snapping her fingers in front of my face. I blinked back to reality.

"Sorry." I muttered. "Let's go." I faintly smiled, gesturing for Rhythmi and Keith to follow me outside to the pledge stone.

XXX

The outdoor class was wonderful, two rangers from Oblivia had come and demonstrated their specialty: ranger signs. We got to see Raikou, Entei, and Suicune all in ten minutes.

They told us of their heroism when facing the Pokémon pinchers, their Pichu even tried telling part of the story. And I'll admit, their Pichu was kinda cute.

Is that wrong of me to find a Pokémon cute? Ah whatever.

The point is, Keith TOTALLY embarrassed the ranger, Ben, when he asked if he'd ever messed up on a mission and Ben told us about all these embarrassing moments. Like when he tried to capture a stuffed Pokémon, or the time he spilled juice all over his styler and uniform. There was more but, Summer, the other ranger, stopped him before he would completely embarrass himself. They left really early though, after getting a call about a wounded Mantine near the school.

I secretly hope that Keith and I end up like Ben and Summer. It'd be nice to have a partner like him.

We both keep each other in check, (well kinda…) yet we both encourage each other to do stupid, reckless stuff that could break our necks.

And hey, speaking of stupid stuff that could cost us quite a bit, did I mention that Kincaid found out it was Keith and I who kept stealing his hairspray? Well he decided to give us detention until graduation day.

So now, every Saturday, Keith and I sit in the library, (which really isn't much of punishment because I like to read about Latias and Latios and Keith likes to sleep in the library) 'thinking' about what we did wrong and why we're here. Ha, but it was so worth it! I swear that Kincaid's face was about as red as an angry Charizard's flame thrower attack. He couldn't even speak he was so angry.

Anyhow, it's right around nine 'O clock and Kincaid had just called lights out.

I snuck out of my dorm again, not caring if I got caught. I already had detention until graduation day, so who cares if Hairspray catches me out past curfew. I strolled carelessly down the dim staircase again, as I did every night. Typically, I'd just go to the library, but something outside… I just had to go out at night. I'd never left my room past six 'O clock, and my room had no windows.

I have never seen stars before. I felt Luxray's poke ball for assurance, knowing that if things go south I'll always have him to fall back on. Feeling a rush of adrenaline, I opened the doors and strode outside. Cool night air greeted me, the crisp air feeling heavenly on my skin.

I looked to the sky. Tiny specks of light colored the sky, bringing pleasure to my gaze.

I stiffened when I heard a VOOSH sound. Footsteps sounded on the grass.

Slowly, I turned around to see my father.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8~**

There he was-dressed in his typical black suit with the signature red 'R' on the right side of his chest, his spoiled unruly Persion sitting beside him with a sneer on its face. I also noticed a black machine that seemed to closely resemble what Summer and Ben had described to be a Z.Z flyer, just instead of 'Z.Z' on the side, it was another large R.

I finally shattered the silence.

"F-father? Wh-what are you doing here?" I stammered, stunned that he hadn't sent Archer, or Ariana, or Petrel, or Proton to speak to me.

His voice was even and cold. "Why did you rip up my letter and not respond?"

I gulped. "Urm… um…"

"You've gone soft." He spat, his voice venomous.

"Wait a second! How- how do you know I ripped up or letter?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Dark types can blend into a mere shadow… you should know this from your studies." He said angrily, opening his closed fist to reveal the letter that I'd ripped to shreds.

My eyes widened, remembering how Umbreon followed me without me even knowing.

"Now, would you like to explain to me why you've gone soft?" Giovanni asked through his teeth.

I stiffened.

"I… I haven't gone soft." I growled.

"Really? I've been watching you, Zaria. I watched you in your silly little outdoor class. Your smile wasn't false. You looked at Raikou, Entei, and Suicune with a weak longing in your eyes, not the hunger that you're supposed to have. Those three are incredibly powerful, but Luxray could've easily captured at least Suicune."

"Father-"

"No. Zaria, I thought that this would be a good idea so I could get what I want… but clearly you don't have the willpower to do it!" He snarled.

"I'm not soft," I began, my heart pounding as I spoke. "I'm waking up."

That'd done it. Giovanni lunged forward, swiftly gripping me by my neck and pinning me against the building.

"You stupid, arrogant girl! You are NOTHING without me! NOTHING!"

I struggled under his grip, trying desperately to reach Luxray's poke ball. I gasped for breath as I took a final stretch towards the ball, barely pushing the white button in the center.

Luxray popped out of his ball with a ping and a flash of light. Luxray growled at Giovanni, not liking the way he was treating me. He coated his tail in iron, growling once more as if to give a final warning.

"Persion! Take care of that." Giovanni snapped, not taking his eyes off me as I struggled to breathe.

"Sion!" Persion cried, shadows cloaking one of its claws.

Luxray and Persion's attacks collided, their power equal.

"L-e-t go!" I cried, kicking feebly.

"You will regret deifying me like that, you are truly stupid!" He screeched, tightening his grip.

_Why didn't I catch one of those Ghastly? Or that Umbreon or Flareon? What's wrong with me! _I thought miserably, knowing that with my father's nature that he won't hesitate to murder me. He is a predator, a killer, an assassin.

"Por!" A Pokémon's cry sounded moments before my father was knocked off me.

We both fell to the ground, wet and out of breath.

Giovanni's face was soaking wet, and he looked disoriented and angry.

"Vap!" The Pokémon cried out again, leaping defensively in front of me. I rubbed my eyes and saw that it was a Vaporeon that'd come to my rescue.

I gave a faint smile, catching onto the frequent visits and rescues from the 'multiple' eeveelutions. "Hello again." I rasped, sucking in another breath.

Vaporeon looked back at me, looking shocked that I'd figured it out.

"I don't know how in the hell you change forms, but I know it's you." I laughed feebly.

Vaporeon smiled at me before turning back to my father, who was getting back to his feet. "You…" He glared, his gaze piercing as he stared at the brave water type.

My gaze flickered from my father and Vaporeon to Luxray, who was still clashing with Father's Persion. Swiftly, I recalled Luxray into his poke ball, then grabbing Vaporeon off the ground and making a run for the school.

"Oh no you don't!" Giovanni screeched, tackling me to the ground. Vaporeon flew out of my arms, skidding several yards away from me.

Next thing I knew, I was pinned by my neck once more. "The visions, Zaria… they are your only chance here… you keep your mouth shut about this an I'll kill you right on the spot and throw your corpse in the ocean." He threatened through his teeth.

My eyes narrowed into glaring slits. "Yes… I… I've had many visions throughout the week." I wheezed, my glare intensifying. "But… that… doesn't… mea…n that I-I have to… tell… you!" I spat right in his eye in defiance.

His grip on me tightened, a vein bulged on the side of his forehead, telling me I'd taken it too far.

Again.

"Tell me right now before kill you." I heard his Persion snicker at the idea of its master murdering something.

"No!" I growled, beginning to pry one of his middle fingers off my neck.

"STTLY! GHAS!" A familiar cry echoed from the school.

Once again, my father's hands were pried off my neck. I looked up to see the ring leader of the Ghastly that called the school's basement home.

It's eyes glowed a soulless eerie white, lifting me to my feet. I looked to the ghost type and nodded curtly.

"Night shade." I commanded. _I'll show you that I ain't soft_. I thought with a glare.

Giovanni was knocked back into his Persion.

"Still think I've gone soft?" I spat, an evil grin spread across my face at the sight of my father experiencing true agony.

Despite the pain he was in, Giovanni got up without any sort of struggle on his part.

"Leave. Now." I glared.

My father shrugged, brushing dirt off his business suit. "I'm glad to see that you're still salvageable… I will be checking up on you soon." He said curtly, returning his Persion to its poke ball and flying away on his black Rocket/Z.Z flyer.

I gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Ghastly." I breathed, looking at the near-transparent Pokémon.

My eyes brightened. "Hey… how 'bout you join my Pokémon team?" I asked, "because I don't think my father's done with me… not yet." I said, my eyes flickering back to where the flyer had disappeared into the night.

Ghastly stuck its tongue out at me and grinned. I smiled faintly, pulling my spare poke ball from my waist. Ghastly then tapped itself inside the ball.

One click.

Two clicks.

Three clicks…. PING!

"Score." I said, my smile quickly fading when I found myself alone again. The transforming Eeveelution was nowhere to be seen either.

It suddenly dawned on me that…

_I could've died._

XXXX

I flinched when the lights flickered on. My eyes were burning, as I hadn't been able to sleep out of fear that Giovanni would come in while I slept and killed me.

Luxray's and Ghastly's pokeballs were clutched tightly in both my hands, ready to release the duo at any moment. I heard yawning the cracking of backs as everyone began to wake.

The girls began to murmur their good mornings to one another as they climbed out of bed.

Inhale.

Exhale.

My hazel eyes blood-shot and staring with deep bags underneath, my shaking figure, and my mind racing as I slipped the two pokeballs in the pockets of my nightgown and climbed down the bunk bed.

I felt people staring as I picked my school uniform out of the closet.

"Morn'n." I mumbled, walking into the changing space.

A hand on my shoulder stopped me. "Zaria, you look awful!" Rhythmi gaped, "did you sleep at all last night?" She inquired.

"Nope." I said, popping the p.

"Why not?"

"None of your beedrill's wax."

"But-"

"But what?"

"How are you going to make it through class today?"

"I just will," I grumbled, walking into the changing room and slamming the door shut.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9~**

_Giovanni's vein still protruded in his forehead as he massaged his temples. No one dared to even enter his office. "I thought I killed that half breed mongrel…" He grumbled, grinding his teeth against each other. The Persion on his lap stayed silent, as this was a VERY touchy subject. He slammed his fist on the call button near his desk. _

_ "Send in Professor Culborn. Now." He said. "O-Of course boss!" The receiver stammered. Only seconds later, there was a rapping at his door. _

_"Come in." He said almost impatiently. The door creaked open. A man neatly combed blond hair in an oversized lab coat came in fairly large office._

_ "What do you need?" He asked._

_ "Experiment number 163. What happened to it?" Giovanni demanded, slamming his fists on his desk. Surprisingly, the Professor stood unflinching._

_ "The hybrid? It escaped last January, remember?" Giovanni looked about ready to snap. _

_"Well recapture it! Experiment 201 can't be hanging around that failed experiment!" _

_ Professor Culborn blinked. "You mean the girl? Why can't you just let her catch it then?" He suggested. _

_ "Bah! If she catches it I'll never get it! After I gave her Experiment 198 she never let anyone but herself touch it. That Luxray is still always with her. While I observed her it was minimized in her left hand all day." Giovanni grumbled._

_ "But sir, think about it," the professor said, choosing his words carefully. "If you want Darkrai and Cresselia, then perhaps you want her to have Experiment 163 at her side. I genetically modified it so it can change into any of its evolutions at will and inherit all of that evolution's attacks and stats and abilities. If it was shiny and obeyed only you like we intended, the experiment would be a complete success." The Professor explained. _

_ "Yes, but getting only one out of three on the scoreboard doesn't get you far. So it's still a complete failure. And, the Zorua used in the DNA extraction died during the extraction so that makes it a double failure!" _

_ Professor Culborn flinched._

_ "Recapture it. Now." Giovanni demanded, sending the scientist away._

_XXX_

"Pst, Zaria! Ms. April's looking at you." Keith whispered, absentmindedly continuing to detail his Serviper carving in the desk.

I rolled my eyes to Keith. "Or, she's looking at you and thinking how angry she is about you carving stuff in the desks." I grumbled, fighting to stay awake.

"M-Zaria," Ms. April corrected herself before continuing. "Are you feeling OK? You look like you're about to pass out."

I gave a half hearted shrug. "I…I I'm fine." I yawned.

Ms. April sighed. "Well it's just a review day today, so I think you can go back to your dorm." She said, turning to Rhythmi. "Rhythmi, you already know this material inside and out. Would you mind leaving class early to take Zaria back to the girls' dormitory?" Ms. April asked.

Rhythmi looked torn. "Uh, um… ok?" She said, getting out of her chair and putting her backpack on.

"And there's no homework, OK? Enjoy your weekend, girls." Ms. April said.

Rhythmi nodded and I gave a half conscious nod as Rhythmi helped me with my stuff. Keith gave me a jealous look as Rhythmi and I walked out of class.

XXX

I was barely able to make it up the latter to my bunk I was so tired, but I managed. (With Rhythmi's help…) I don't think I even put my head on my pillow before I passed out.

XXX

_"Lat!" _

_"You get back here!" A twelve-year old girl yelled, a poke ball clutched in between her fingers. Bing. She enlarged the ball with a single tap to the white center. "Murkrow, foul play!" She commanded, releasing the crow-like Pokémon. _

_ "Krow!" It cried, coating itself in darkness as it charged at the golden Pokémon. _

_ "Tias!" The petite dragon type wailed in pain, countering with dragon breath. _

_"Murk!" Murkrow squawked as he was flung back at the young girl. _

_The red head struggled to keep control over the black flyer when her bird came flying back at her. She cursed under her breath as she returned Murkrow, and sent an Oddish to take its place. "Sleep powder!" She cried, getting ready to push the button that would fling a net at her target. _

_ "Dish!" Oddish cried, sending tiny yet effective spores. With the damage that the beast had taken from her Murkrow, it had slowed down enough to where the sleep powder could do its job. In the blink of an eye, the golden dragon fell limp, falling out of the sky._

_ The girl gritted her teeth, knowing that if this thing died then she'd be next. The ginger haired girl hastily slammed her fist on the net button, watching as a cable shot out from the bottom of the aircraft, a net extending from the thick metal cord. She grinned as the net closed around the sleeping Pokémon, quickly retracting the thick metal cord. _

_ Hitting the microphone she spoke, "mission complete."_

XXX

My eyes slowly opened as Rhythmi opened the door to the dormitory. I heard some muttering before the door shut. "Hey, Zaria you awake yet? It's Saturday morning and Keith's waiting for you to go to detention with him." Rhythmi hollered.

"Yep, com'n." I muttered, climbing out of bed. "You look better." Rhythmi observed, relieved that her good friend didn't look like a zombie anymore.

I nodded sleepily, "yep, and since I passed out in my school uniform I don't have to change," I said with a grin, quickly running a comb through my long, straight, near-silver hair. Knowing that Kincaid would freak out on Keith and I if we took too long, I decided not to brush my teeth.

I instead popped a red mint into my mouth, letting the strong tang of mint saturate my breath before crunching the candy in my teeth and swallowing it.

I gave Rhythmi a smile as I walked out the door in my wrinkled and rumpled junior ranger uniform. Keith's impatient pacing outside the door came to a stop when I came out.

He gave an exasperated sigh, "geez finally! If hairspray gets angrier than usual at us I'm blaming you." The spiky-haired brunet grumbled, trotting down the stairs. I rolled my azure eyes and followed the irate boy.

XXX

I choked back a snicker when Kincaid hit one of the round tables in the library with a meter stick in a futile attempt to scare us. "You're late," he said with a glare.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, think about what you've done by 'violating' my hairspray." Keith mocked as he imitated the teacher, rolling his eyes.

"What he's trying to say is to," I intensified my voice before continuing. "Go away!" Kincaid cursed beneath his breath, leaving the library. After I was sure the blond freak was gone, I decided to show Keith my new Ghastly.

"Hey, Keith, I snuck out of my dorm Thursday night and caught this." I smiled, releasing the ghost type. "STLY!" Ghastly cried loudly, floating around Keith's head.

His eyes narrowed. "You sure you should be catching these? I mean, there's never been a ranger with captured Pokémon being their partner Pokémon, besides, you have one too many anyhow." Keith said, looking skeptically at Ghastly.

My eyes narrowed, "why can't there be?" I challenged, "why can't there be a ranger with captured Pokémon?"

"Because rangers can't be wasting time taking Pokémon away from their natural environment, and of course we can't be distracted by Pokémon battling. It's a pointless, selfish thing for people to do." Keith shot back.

My blood boiled. Pokémon battling was my everything, what he'd just said hurt. "Look, I happen to LOVE Pokémon battles, they're what settle wars and feuds between people and Pokémon, they make this world spin round 'n round."

Keith rolled his brown eyes. "Sheesh, I know you'll be telling me that you support Team Rocket or something. You're a ranger, not a trainer. Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

My eyes gave a glint of curiosity. "Why wouldn't I support Team Rocket?" I asked. Much to my surprise, Keith started laughing.

"Haha, very funny. Now," he said with a yawn. "I think it's about time I go to sleep."

"I wasn't joking." That wiped the amused look off his face.

I felt Luxray's poke ball vibrate in warning, as though telling me not to go farther. But since when have I taken someone else's advice?

"What in the hell are you talking about? They steal Pokémon from people and either sell, abuse, experiment on, or have them do their dirty work. They're a big old group of crooks!" He snapped.

I blinked. "What? B-but-"

"Don't play stupid with me!"

"B-but don't… doesn't Team Rocket HELP the world? Help people use Pokémon for their true purposes?"

"eHelHell no! I don't know what in the f#### you're talking about! Look," Keith said, dragging me to the library's computer. He quickly turned it on, typing the words 'Team' and 'Rocket' into the search bar. He then read their definition to me.

"Team Rocket is a villainous team in pursuit of evil and exploitation of Pokémon based in the Kanto and Johto regions. While its main focus is stealing or capturing, then selling, rare and strong Pokémon, it also funds and conducts cruel experimental research on Pokémon. Their oath, as posted on the wall of one of their many bases, is "Steal Pokémon for profit. Exploit Pokémon for profit. All Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket." Their ultimate goal is to take over the world using Pokémon."

I opened my mouth but no words came out. As I had nothing to say. I stared emptily at the green and brown carpet. "What the f#### do you have to say for yourself now?" Keith scowled, clicking off the browser.

I gulped, remembering all the posters and banners hung around the HQ with the 'Steal Pokémon for profit. Exploit Pokémon for profit. All Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket,' slogan.

I felt sick to my stomach. I paled when I realized that I was also one of their many 'experiments' that Keith had mentioned.

"Is that all I ever was to them?" I croaked.

Keith blinked in surprise.

"Is that what I am now to them? Just… just an experiment?" I whispered, my voice shaking as I fought back the odd urge to cry.

"What?" He asked, "an experiment? Zaria, what in Arceus's name are you talking about?" I bit my tongue, knowing that if father was watching that I'd be beaten, and most likely murdered for finding the truth.

But what'd they think would happen if they sent me out here? Of course I was bound to find out.

"I… I was raised by them…" I finally said. The room fell silent. Ghastly stopped goofing around the library, Luxray's poke ball stopped vibrating, and Keith fell quiet.


End file.
